1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an insect trap for detecting, capturing, monitoring and controlling populations of numerous injurious species of the Coleopteran order of insects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous species of the Coleopteran order, particularly the boll weevil, have been the most economically damaging insects in the agriculture of the United States. Hundreds of millions of dollars are lost annually due solely to boll weevils. Use of chemical pesticides for controlling boll weevils is very expensive, adding up to tens of millions of dollars per year for protecting cotton plants that are susceptible to boll weevils. Several traps for capturing boll weevils have been presented in the prior art, particularly in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,949,515, 3,987,577 and 4,611,425. In general, the traps presented in the patents provide a base member that has a top, an inverted wire mesh funnel that has an orifice and that is connected to the base member to create an annular space between the orifice of the funnel and the top of the base member, and a capture chamber on top of the funnel so that the apex of the funnel substantially extends into the capture chamber. Boll weevils crawl upwardly upon the base member, through the annular space between the funnel and the base member, upwardly along the inside of the funnel, and through an opening at the apex of the funnel, out of the funnel and into the capture chamber. A lure that emits a sex and aggregation pheromone is placed inside the capture chamber to attract the boll weevils to the trap and into the capture chamber. Additionally, insecticides may be placed in the capture chamber to kill the boll weevils. Before the invention of these weevil traps, trapping efforts have not been satisfactory for detecting and monitoring weevil populations (particularly female weevils) during the critical production period of a cotton crop.